More Than Just Singing
by Brackenfrond
Summary: Nico didn't really want to go to highschool, but he was under orders from Chiron to scope out this new energy source, along with Percy, Annabeth and Thalia. He wasn't expecting to enjoy it - but he also wasn't expecting Kurt and the adventure that came with knowing him.
1. Chapter 1

"I still don't understand what the point of this is." Nico muttered, tugging his aviator jacket further around himself, standing with Percy and Annabeth as Thalia shoved her silvery hunters parka into her locker, looking at the timetable she'd stuck up on the door. Thalia was ridiculously organised, unlike Nico, who had literally shoved everything aside from his bag into his locker in a small mountain of stuff. It had caused Annabeth to look away from it and shudder. "If it's such a big deal, why can't Chiron do the usual and just send satyrs to scout these kids out?"

"Nico makes many excellent points, surprisingly." Thalia hummed, closing her locker and turning back to face the group, reclining against the lockers behind her. "Why did we have to come?"

"Because," Annabeth started, tightening the ponytail her hair was currently tied up in. "The magical energy he detected was high. Unusually so. He figured that it might be a large group of demigods, or something more. Possibly a monster. We're here to scout, keep an eye out, make sure nothing's amiss."

"Oh." Nico blinked. "So basically what we spend our lives doing, but with more school?"

"We've got a smart one here." Thalia said dryly and Percy snorted. "Honestly, Annie, as far as I can tell the only monsters around here are the regular, human ones."

"And they can be worse than the actual monsters." Percy pointed out, shifting his bag slightly.

"I still think that satyrs could have dealt with this better than us." Nico grumbled. "You know, because this shit is actually their job and not ours."

"Oh, shut up, di Angelo." Thalia rolled her eyes. "We're here now, so we might as well make the most of it. And, you know, not complain."

"Thals has a point." Percy agreed, ignoring how Thalia bristled at the nickname. "This is probably going to be the most normal our lives are ever gonna be. Cherish the moment, Neeks, cherish it!"

"Don't call me Neeks." Nico muttered. "And I have a feeling you have just jinxed us."

Nico was just joking, of course. Well, about the jinxing thing.

But he was right. He just didn't realise how much madness highschool life could hold.

XoooX

Nico's day got turned around when he first met Kurt.

At the time, he hadn't expected anything different, to be completely honest. He had a good sense of wrong and right, if he said so himself, and one kid being ganged up on by two much taller, bulkier jocks than him...well, that was not cool.

"Hey!" Nico had made his way over, standing next to the other boy. He was taller than him, slighter, with crystal blue eyes and pale skin. Not as pale as Nico's, mind. In fact, Nico must not look like much of a threat to the taller boys, with his too big eyes and sickly pale skin and too big aviator jacket. Then again, that had never hindered Nico before. "What the Ha - hell do you think you're doing?" The jocks didn't have the decency to answer his question. Honestly.

"You a fag too?" The black one said, and Nico raised an eyebrow as the other one laughed.

"Got yourself a boyfriend, lady?" Honestly, they needed to find better insults.

Nico had the brief impulse to lie. To say that, no, he wasn't gay. This was a new school, a new start. Time to craft a new life for himself, to get over his crush, to find and date a girl. To be normal.

His eyes flickered to the other boy, who looked a cross between relieved and worried. And Nico decided to fuck it.

"Yeah, I am. What's it too you?" Nico was surprised to find the wind knocked out of him when the second jock knocked him into the lockers, before the two stalked off. "Bastards!"

"That's Karofsky and Azimio." The boy said, biting his lip. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yeah, I did." Nico brushed invisible dust off himself. "They were complete and utter pricks. You weren't doing anything wrong." He shrugged. The boy smiled.

"I'm Kurt. Kurt Hummel. You are…?" Nico offered a hand, which Kurt shook.

"Nico di Angelo. Just started here." Kurt's eyes widened.

"This is a terrible way to start here, really." He admitted. "We're not all that bad. There's a group of us…well, we're accepting. At least, more so than those two." Nico grinned and allowed himself a moment to take in the entirety of Kurt's outfit.

"Nice bowtie." He couldn't help but say, smiling honestly and Kurt returned it brilliantly. "So, this group…?"

"We're the glee club here." Kurt laughed at Nico's confused look. "We sing. Perform. We're not exactly well respected here. We're the misfits, but we're like one big family, to be completely honest."

The misfits...yeah, Nico knew how _that_ felt all too well, to be shunned by others. Because of who you were, because of something you couldn't change, something you couldn't help. He did have a sort of family, now, but even they didn't know about him completely. Then there was Kurt, who he'd known for about five seconds and already knew that he was gay. Nico smiled.

"Sounds cool. I'll check it out some time."

Maybe it was time to make his family a little bigger.

XoooX

"If di Angelo's joining, I don't see why I have to as well." Thalia muttered as Nico bit into his chicken sandwich. Sally was a godsend, with her ability at actually making food. Mostly because some of the food here looked ready to grow legs and run. It was quite creepy, actually. "I mean, one of us is enough."

"The more people the better." Annabeth hummed, spearing a piece of pasta with her fork and sticking it in her mouth. "The more people we meet, the more chance we're gonna find this energy source. Then we're done, and we don't have to go to school any more if we don't want to."

"Why do we have to learn Spanish, anyway?" Percy muttered, glaring at his blue cookies as though they had personally offended him. "I'm fluent in Ancient Greek and Latin - that should count for something."

"As they're dead languages," Nico hummed. "I highly doubt that they should." Percy pulled a face.

"Ugh."

"But back to the actual matter." Annabeth piped up, authoritative as always and Nico managed to not gag as Percy stared at her almost adoringly. "Thalia, you're joining along with Nico."

"But -"

"No buts."

"Hey, mind if we join you?" Nico turned, grinning, to look at Kurt and the girl with him. She was black, with dark hair and eyes and she was relatively pretty, he guessed.

"Not at all." Nico gestured to the spare seat next to him and Kurt took it, the girl sitting opposite him."Who's this?"

"Mercedes Jones." Mercedes smiled, and her eyes flickered to Percy. "Which one of you stuck up for my boo?"

"That would be me." Nico smiled. "Nico di Angelo. This is Thalia Grace, Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson."

"No offence." Mercedes started. "But you don't look like the saving type."

"I get that a lot." Nico shrugged, oblivious to the look Thalia shot Mercedes. An 'insult him and you die' kind of look. "I'm not exactly a knight in shining armour."

"Appearance wise, no." Kurt said. "But still. You're alright. Although your fashion sense leaves much to be desired." Nico elbowed him and Kurt returned it, laughing. "Have you thought about joining Glee, anyway?"

"Yeah, figured I'd give it a shot." Nico shrugged.

"And Thalia here will be joining in." Annabeth had snagged Thalia before she could slip off. Now Annabeth had her arm wrapped around a disgruntled huntress, who looked ready to shoot Annabeth in the head with an arrow. Nico hated to admit that he would really, really enjoy seeing that. "Not Percy and I, though - can't sing to save our lives, unfortunately." Annabeth put on a very convincing smile.

"Oh, that's too bad." Mercedes hummed. "Well, Nico and Thalia can meet us in the choir room after school tomorrow."

"Yeah, rehearsals." Kurt blinked, as though he'd briefly forgotten, but smiled nonetheless.

"Do we have to have something prepared?" Thalia seemed to have accepted her fate and was now giving her lunch a look that Nico was sure should ignite it. Or something similar. Kurt shrugged.

"It would be nice, I guess, but we're more of an 'accept everyone' sort of group."

"Maybe try something short and sweet." Mercedes added. "That could work. Just so we know you actually can sing. You might want to sign up now, though. Before the sign up sheet is desecrated. Again." Nico winced.

"Yeah, that might be a good idea. C'mon Thalia." Thalia grumbled and got to her feet and the two walked away.

"When I accepted this," Thalia began, picking at her jumper. "I don't remember 'singing' being one of the conditions." Nico snorted.

XoooX

Glee club was nothing like what Nico expected.

He expected a group of kids who weren't exactly popular, who were more in the background. So seeing Cheerios was not, exactly, expected.

Kurt and Mercedes were there obviously, and that was comforting, to see familiar faces. He mentally catalogued the faces - the three cheerios, two blonde, one brunette. There were two Asian kids - one guy, who had his arm flung around the girl's shoulders. She had blue streaks in her hair. There was one guy, brunet, who was ridiculously tall, sat with a much smaller girl, who looked rather disgruntled. There was a boy in a wheelchair, with glasses, a blond boy with a rather large looking mouth, and another with a mohawk, giving off Ares-esque vibes. He was looking at Thalia curiously and Nico had to stifle a laugh at the thought of anyone attempting to hit on Thalia.

The idea...it was insane.

"So, you two want to join?" The teacher, Mr Schue, was most definitely an improvement on Mr D. He was friendly and open, but Nico had only met him once, in his Spanish class, so wasn't one hundred percent sure what to make of him just yet.

"More like forced." Thalia hissed under her breath. Nico stepped on her foot and smiled charmingly at Mr Schue.

"Yeah." He replied. He swore he saw Kurt attempting not to laugh at his act. "We have something prepared. It's a duet, if that's ok?"

"Uh, yeah, that's fine." Mr Schue took a seat and Thalia handed the sheet music over to the guy on the piano.

"We'll be singing 'Just a Kiss' by Lady Antebellum." Nico gave his best dazzling smile before the music started and Thalia began.

 _Lying here with you so close to me..._

 _...Caught up in your smile_

She looked sad when she sang it, but her voice was beautiful, as Nico remembered when they'd practiced. Thalia hadn't looked as sad, then, but it seemed to add an almost ethereal quality to her voice. Nico was so intently listening to it, he nearly missed his cue, but caught himself in time.

 _I've never opened up to anyone..._

 _...Let's just take it slow_

He didn't think his voice was as beautiful as Thalia's, didn't even entertain the thought, but his gaze caught Kurt's, who gave him a smile and a thumbs up, which boosted Nico's confidence drastically. Thalia gave him a wink, before they sang the chorus together.

 _Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight..._

 _...With just a kiss goodnight_

Nico had to admit that they did sound good together, and from Mr Schue's nodding he seemed to agree. The smallest girl there seemed to be silently fuming and Nico couldn't help but wonder why. Thalia looked smug, though, as she sung the bridge herself.

 _No, I don't want to say goodnight..._

 _...Tonight_

The last word they sung together, before one more round of the chorus. They finished with the Glee club clapping, Mr Schue retaking his place at the front as he did so.

"Wow, guys, that was brilliant." Nico gave an awkward smile and Thalia flipped her hair in a gesture that probably looked like she had no doubts about her excellence. "Take a seat - we're preparing for Sectionals so it's mostly going to be song discussion." The two did as asked, Thalia making her way over to where one of the blonde Cheerio's was waving her over and Nico took the spare seat next to Kurt. The boy grinned.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting that - you've got Rachel worried." Nico tilted his head.

"The small one, right?"

"Oh, yeah." Mercedes blinked. "You don't know anyone. Introductions - the mohawk is Puck, the tall one is Finn. He and Rachel are dating. Artie's the guy in the wheelchair, Mike and Tina are the Asians, and are dating. Blond guy is Sam, then you have Sanatana, the brunette Cheerio, Quinn is the one who waved Thalia over and finally is Brittany."

"And then you have our fabulous selves." Kurt added. Nico nodded. It was going to take a while to remember everyone, but he could do it. He'd fought in a war, after all. "So, what do you think so far?"

"It, surprisingly, isn't as terrifying as I expected." Nico admitted. Mercedes grinned.

"You haven't experienced Rachel yet - now that, is scary." Kurt let out a quiet laugh and Nico smiled. As Thalia said, singing wasn't a part of the contract.

He couldn't regret having to.

XoOoX

Righty-o, let's try this again!

Hopefully, the fact I have barely posted any lyrics will prevent this from being taken down...you know. Again.

If it is, it will be posted on my AO3 account, under the same name.

The song used is;

Just a Kiss - Lady Antebellum

Thanks! ~ Jazz xx


	2. Chapter 2

Sometimes Nico wondered why he put up with his demigod friends. He wondered why he put up with Thalia's constant teasing and Annabeth always getting higher grades than him. He wondered why he ever had a crush on Percy, because seriously, the son of Poseidon wasn't that great. He wasn't the perfect hero Nico had once thought he was.

All of this came to his realisation a while ago. Joining glee had just made him realise that there were other people out there who were just as great as those three, and were much more open and friendly.

Ok, maybe the Cheerios were a bit more closed off, but Quinn was a sweetheart, really, and Thalia got along with her and then there was Brittany, who was just genuinely nice. And, yeah, Santana was a bitch, but she couldn't be that bad if everyone else put up with her.

Rachel...yeah, Nico didn't really like Rachel that much. She was too arrogant and sure of herself for his tastes, but Finn was nice enough, he supposed. A bit of a dork, not the smartest, but nice.

Puck was the one who Nico thought he'd hate the most, but really, Puck wasn't bad at all. He gave off the aura of a bad guy, but he laughed at Thalia's jokes and talked about football with Nico, explaining just about everything about the game when Nico admitted he didn't really know much about it. Sam had butted in now and then with his opinion, and the blond had wormed his way into Nico's good books at that.

He hadn't spoken much to Mike, Tina and Artie, but from what conversations he had with them he could tell that they were nice, and he wouldn't mind hanging out with them some more.

Mercedes, now she was one person Nico was definitely glad to have met. She was confident in herself, but didn't annoy him as much as Rachel, possibly because Mercedes didn't want to kill him after his audition. Also, her voice was spectacular.

Then, there was Kurt.

Kurt, who had to be one of the most amazing people Nico had ever met. Who insulted his fashion sense constantly and dragged him to the mall, but helped him with his homework when Nico asked and insisted on buying him coffee after dragging him to the mall because 'you look like you're ready to pass out'.

The passing out would have totally been worth the leather jacket he'd found in the clearance section.

So, yeah, Kurt, the one guy who was directly opposite of the people Nico was expected to hang out with, was his best friend. The world had weird ways of playing with you. Nico knew that first hand.

Truth be told, Kurt was probably the only reason he stayed in glee, apart from not wanting to face Annabeth's wrath if he dared to quit.

XoooX

Nico and Kurt had taken to their usual seats at the very back of the choir room, both nursing cardboard cups holding their coffee orders from The Lima Bean - caramel latte for Nico (Thalia complained about how sweet it was often) and a grande non-fat mocha for Kurt. Yes, Nico knew Kurt's coffee order. No, there was no need to read anything into that. He knew Kurt's coffee order, like he knew Thalia liked hers black with no sugar, because she was part demon or something because bitter coffee, ew.

"You mean you've never actually seen a musical?" Kurt sounded outraged. Nico shrugged.

"Never had an opportunity." He replied. "Heard some of the songs, though. Oh, and Annabeth bought RENT so I might give that a shot."

"I will force you to sit down and watch it." Kurt replied. "Because you have been missing out, my friend."

That was when Mr Schue walked in, the chatter quieting down enough that the teacher could be easily heard.

"We have a list of our competition for Sectionals next month!" He announced and most of the group clapped in excitement, Kurt's eyes wide and shining. Nico grinned slightly, joining in with the clapping. He could see Thalia leaning back in her chair to hiss something to Puck, and he snorted. "First off, we have the a cappella choir from the all boys private school in Westerville, the Dalton Academy Warblers."

"I was not informed of an all boys school." Nico couldn't help but whisper to Kurt. "Damn, I've been missing out." Kurt choked, before bursting into laughter, along with Nico, ignorant to the looks they were receiving from the rest of the group. Not like they cared that much. When they eventually regained enough composure to be able to sit up like normal people, and could look at each other without exploding into giggles, Mr Schue continued.

"And The Hipsters." Nico internally cringed. "A first year club from the Warren Township continuing education program. They're a group composed of elderly people getting their High School GED's." Rachel blinked, wrinkling her nose slightly.

"Is that legal?" At that, Thalia snorted, before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable giggles, which took the combined effort of Quinn and Mercedes to calm her down. She waved a hand at Mr Schue for him to continue. He gave her a confused look, but continued speaking.

"Well, to get you guys worked up for Sectionals, I want to make this week the second annual boys versus girls tournament." There was a lot of agreement with this idea, as in cheering and clapping. "Alright, so split up and start picking your songs." They did so, Thalia immediately launching into a conversation with Quinn, including extravagant hand gestures. Nico moved over to where the boys were gathered, followed by a rather hesitant Kurt, who kept casting looks over to the girls. Nico frowned minutely because, yeah, that...wasn't good. He tried to push his concern out of mind by asking a question.

"So this is going to be an annual thing?" Mike hummed, watching as Finn and Puck fired off suggestions.

"I guess so. The one we did last year was fun." He paused. "Well, apart from the whole vitamin D thing."

"...What?" Nico tilted his head.

"Yeah, we got high of vitamin D." Artie confirmed what Mike had said and Nico was relieved to see Kurt's lips twitch, even if it was minutely.

"...I won't ask."

"Yeah, you don't want to know."

"Can we sing something less…" Kurt waved his hand absently, and Nico realised he'd zoned out on the song choices completely.

"AC/DC would be great." Sam suggested and it seemed as though Kurt's protests were going unheard.

"Uh, guys?" Nico spoke up. "Don't you think we could do something less...I dunno, rock?" The group turned to look at Nico and he flushed slightly. "I mean, there are bands like...Matchbox Twenty and Panic at the Disco we could try? Or even some female songs, to give us something…different." A majority of the group wrinkled their noses, although Puck looked thoughtful up until the mention of 'female songs'. They returned to their discussion and Nico looked at Kurt. He gave a sad smile and mouthed 'you tried'.

For some reason, that didn't make Nico feel better at all.

XoooX

"Hey, are you alright?" Nico frowned slightly as Kurt slid into the seat next to him at lunch, promptly hiding his face in the younger boys shoulder. Percy paused halfway through taking a bite of his burger and raised an eyebrow at the display. Nico narrowed his eyes in warning. Annabeth didn't comment, reading some book on architecture, and Thalia wasn't sat there, having disappeared to gods knew where.

"I'm fine." Kurt huffed, moving into a sitting position and fixing his hair. "I think there might be a change in glee, though."

"Oh gods what did you do?" Nico couldn't stop his lips twitching, though, even as Kurt elbowed him.

"Nothing terrible, di Angelo - relax a bit." The taller boy rolled his eyes. "Come on or we'll be late."

"We won't be." Nico retorted, but packed up his stuff. "Guys, we're heading off to glee."

"Have fun." Annabeth waved a hand absently and Percy, who had a mouth full of burger, just nodded. Nico rolled his eyes, before heading off to the choir room with Kurt.

"Your friends are...civil."

"They're boring." Nico corrected, absently slinging an arm across Kurt's shoulders. "Ridiculously so. But I have to put up with them because I live with them." Kurt rolled his eyes.

"Have I told you about how I set up my dad and Finn's mom so that I would be sharing a house with him?" Nico stared and Kurt turned a shade of pink that suited him beautifully. Not that Nico would think that or anything. "I was stupid."

"You had a crush on the very heterosexual Finn?" Nico was resisting the urge to laugh. Kurt elbowed him.

"You can talk."

"Kurt? Shut up and never bring that up again." Kurt's eyes were twinkling at the slight pink tinge that had taken over Nico's cheeks as the younger boy huffed. The two managed to reach the choir room, where quite a few people were already gathered. Thalia was there as well, drinking a slushie. Everyone was giving her a lot of space, every now and then looking at the slushie with almost fear. Nico raised an eyebrow at his friend. Thalia shrugged in response, having another sip of the drink. The slight glimpse Nico caught of her tongue told him that the slushie was blue and he was never, ever going to let that go, because Thalia obviously chose it because it matched her eyes.

Mr Schue arrived just as Nico and Kurt took to the two spare seats in the choir room. He quieted the group, before announcing that there would be rules to uphold for the girls versus boys competition.

Namely, singing songs typically performed by those of the opposite gender. Meaning boys singing songs typically performed by girls, and vice versa. From the smile on Kurt's face, this was what he'd spoken to Mr Schue about and he was happy with the results. Nico glanced towards Thalia, who was gesticulating wildly, mouth moving a mile a minute, oblivious to Rachel's disgruntled look and Quinn's highly amused one. She was obviously overjoyed with this change, and was probably hoping to introduce everyone to Green Day. It was such a Thalia thing to do.

The boys, apart from Kurt, didn't look too happy though. Probably because they'd already figured out an AC/DC mash-up or something like that, where Finn would be the lead. Because that always seemed to happen. It was quite repetitive, actually.

Nico was on Kurt's side this time, though. Seriously, the guys in this group needed to appreciate the amazingness that was female artists. Heck, Nico was a guy, but even he could hear how brilliant they were. He was looking forward to performing songs that the others wouldn't even consider normally. He smirked.

"Guys." He said. "I think Kurt and I have got this in the bag."

XoooX

"Obviously, the songs chosen are definitely not ones we'd normally be singing." Nico folded his arms, flashing a grin at Kurt, who was absently fixing something on the massive board he'd brought in, fabric swatches and costume ideas pinned to it. "Thing is, it will definitely push us forward some more. Also, it will probably freak Thals out, so it's a win win situation."

"She'll kill you for calling her Thals." Kurt added unhelpfully - Nico knew that all too well. "But, anyway, when singing anything Diana Ross, feather boas are definitely a must."

Yeah, that wasn't a good way to go.

The guys in the room almost let out a huge groan in unison, looking disgruntled and Nico was expecting that because they were guys, all of them on the football team. Even Artie, which he didn't completely get.

"Isn't this lesson about opposites? I mean you in a sequin gown and a feather boa is exactly what you'd expect." Artie muttered. Nico saw red and exploded as Kurt opened his mouth to respond.

"Back off!" He growled, attempting to reign in his temper as he saw the shadows being cast elongating. Losing his temper and causing everyone to panic would not be a good situation. "He's just trying to help, ok? And just because Kurt doesn't swing towards girls or whatever doesn't mean he wants to be one. Leave it alone!"

"Come on, you can't seriously be considering it!" Finn raised an eyebrow. Nico opened his mouth to make some comment about how it was only a feather boa, but was cut off by Kurt's hand on his shoulder, stopping his annoyance immediately. Kurt just had that calming effect on him.

"Yes, Finn." Kurt said, sounding slightly peeved, but at least he couldn't summon hordes of skeletons if he got annoyed. "This is about opposites, right? And this is com -"

"Look, dude, go make yourself useful and...I dunno, put some rat poison in the old folks jell-o or...visit the Garglers."

"The Warblers." Kurt and Nico automatically correct Puck in unison. The boy rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. See what they're up to and you can wear all the feathers you want." Puck tossed the football to Finn. Kurt sucked in a sharp breath, annoyance clear in his posture, anger radiating off him.

"Fine, then. I will." Kurt replied, tone short and clipped. The others went silent, as though they couldn't actually believe Kurt was going to go through with it. But he gathered up his board, and marched out. He paused briefly in the doorway. "Coming, Nico?"

"One sec." He replied, before fixing everyone with a smile that spoke of death. He swore he saw Sam shudder and felt a slight rush of satisfaction. "Good luck thinking up something. Ciao." He headed over to Kurt and the two left together.

XoooX

Sally took the opportunity to buy Nico smart clothes with a passion that terrified him. Of course, she didn't know why he needed them. He'd rattled off some excuse about going out somewhere with a boy from school. Sally had smiled, ruffled his hair and told him she'd get him something nice.

Later on, they'd sat down with Paul and Sally had told him that being attracted to guys was fine and that him having a boyfriend was something he didn't need to hide.

Both Nico and Paul were equally traumatized by the experience and silently agreed they didn't need to go over it again. Like, ever.

But what Sally had bought him would do - a white shirt, black blazer, black trousers and leather shoes. He was lacking a tie, which Nico supposed he could deal with. He was sure that the boys there must forget their ties sometimes, right?

Apparently, not. The amount of students there seemed neverending, despite the fact it was a boarding school, as well as private. At least he didn't stick out as much as Kurt did. Nico actually felt sorry for Kurt because in his leather jacket and pieced together disguise, it was obvious he wasn't from the school. At least Nico looked close to a student that had just lost his tie.

Currently, the two of them were attempting to wind their way through the crowd, trying not to fall down the stairs in the process because that would suck.

"Excuse me!" Kurt called out, managing to catch the attention of a boy who turned, a pocket watch in his hand. The boy smiled and Nico raised an eyebrow at the slightly taken aback look on Kurt's face. "Uh, can I ask you a question? We're new here." Nico held his hand up in greeting.

"My name's Blaine." The boy said, holding out a hand which Kurt took.

"Kurt." He said. "This is my friend - Nico."

"What is going on, anyway?" Nico asked, taking the hand when Blaine offered him it.

"The Warblers." Blaine shot them a dazzling grin that would have made Nico swoon if he was into short guys with too much hair gel. "They sometimes put on impromptu performances. Sort of shuts the school down for a while." Kurt shot Nico a bewildered look, before turning back to Blaine.

"So the glee club here is sort of...cool?" He asked, disbelief evident in his expression. Blaine's expression softened slightly, eyes twinkling. He knew, Nico suspected, but hadn't ratted on them yet. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad.

"The Warblers are like rockstars - come on, I know a shortcut." He reached out, taking Kurt's hand. The taller boy turned to Nico, who made a shooing gesture.

"Go on - I'll get there." And the two were off and Nico was alone, aside from a sea of seemingly identical schoolboys.

Fun.

"You look lost."

"Holy -!" Nico jumped, turning around to face two identical blond boys, grinning at him in a manner that made him want to run and hide as soon as physically possible. "Give a guy a heart attack, why don't you?!" Their grins just grew.

"Evan -"

"And Ethan Brightman." The two twins held out their hands in unison and Nico warily took the one...Ethan offered him.

"Nico di Angelo. I'm new." Evan snorted.

"We could tell - forget your uniform?" Nico rolled his eyes at the comment.

"Yes. I'm meant to be meeting up with my friend in the senior commons but I have absolutely no clue where I'm going." The twins blinked. "Can you show me the way?"

"Of course we can show you the way!" The two chorused, before they took both of Nico's arms, causing him to let out a startled yell, and marched down the hallways.

They reached the commons in a few minutes and Nico was left while Evan and Ethan joined up with a group of boys in the centre of the room. So, they were part of the Warblers, then.

Nico thought that didn't bode well. He tried to take his mind off that by observing the boys they were with.

There was a small boy with mad, curly strawberry blonde hair. He had quite a few band aids on his hands, as well as one on his cheeks. He was talking to the twins, as well as two other boys - one coloured, the other Asian. They were laughing about something. Nico's eyes then landed on a boy further away from them, with slicked back blond hair and vivid green eyes that seemed to be even more striking than Percy's. He had good posture, straight. His eyes trailed around the room until they locked on Nico. His lips twitched into a smile and Nico was so startled, it took him a few seconds to actually return it.

"I stick out like a sore thumb." Nico turned, away from the boy's gaze, when he recognised Kurt's voice. Blaine laughed, tugging on the lapel of Kurt's jacket.

"Next time, don't forget your jacket, new kid." He said, entirely good natured. "You'll fit right in." Blaine flashed Kurt a wink, clapped Nico on the shoulder before joining the group, who had begun harmonising and starting to form a tune that Nico recognised. Percy kept listening to Katy Perry on repeat when driving to school, mostly to annoy Nico, and this song was the only one Annabeth knew the lyrics to and could be found humming to it a lot.

"You think I'm pretty,

Without any makeup on…"

"Oh my gods, they're good." Nico hissed to Kurt through his teeth, eyes wide as he watched the choreography, the entire group moving in unison as they created the backing track with their voices, with their bodies. Nico wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting, but it most certainly was not this.

He glanced at Kurt, who was staring at one member of the group. Nico directed his attention back to them, and found that Blaine wasn't taking his eyes off Kurt while he sang, apart from slight glances at the other Warblers to make sure they were performing the correct choreography. Was this flirting? It sure felt like it, despite Nico's limited knowledge in that area. He filed this event away for future usage, probably blackmail, because he had a feeling that this would not be the last time he saw the Warblers.

Before Nico knew it, the performance was over and the whole room burst into applause, including himself and Kurt because even though the New Directions were totally screwed, the guys were good. The boys began to filter out after that, until it was just him, Kurt, Blaine and two other Warblers left in the room. Blaine stepped forwards and looked at the both of them.

"So, 'new kids', why exactly are you spying on the Warblers?" Kurt's gulp was audible and Nico almost groaned.

He was going to kill Puck for putting this idea into their heads.

XoooX

"You know, offering to take us out for a drink wasn't exactly what I was expecting." Nico admitted, taking the coffee the coloured Warbler offered him. Kurt took the latte Blaine offered him with a mouthed 'thank you.' Blaine laughed slightly.

"This is Wes and David." He said, gesturing to the boys sat with him who smiled in greeting. Nico smiled back, cradling his coffee cup between his perpetually cold hands.

"It's nice of you to invite us for coffee before you beat us up for spying." Kurt said quietly.

"Darn it Kurt, you've given us away!" Nico said, putting on an over dramatic voice which drew him lots of attention. "They only guessed that!"

"No, we knew you were spies." David said, rolling his eyes with a grin.

"You were just such terrible spies, it was sort of endearing." Wes added. Nico scowled playfully.

"Darn it, I bought this suit for nothing." Nico was attempting to inject some humour into the current situation, but even he could tell it wasn't working. Kurt stared at his latte, not smiling or even laughing slightly, just...staring. Nico sighed and Blaine looked contemplative.

"And that made me think that...spying wasn't the only reason you came here."

Kurt paused, as though hesitant, which Nico found ridiculously odd because Kurt was always so sure of himself. "Can...can I ask you guys a question? Are you all...gay?"

The laughter which came stung Nico slightly, until Blaine spoke up.

"No...well, I am but these guys have girlfriends." Blaine gestured to Wes and David, though that really wasn't required. Nico was thinking now, though, that possibly Blaine had been flirting with Kurt and it took all his effort not to whoop at that because his suspicions, for once, were correct.

"This isn't a gay school." David clarified, a comforting smile on his face. "We just have a zero tolerance harassment policy."

"That way, everyone's treated the same, no matter who or what they are. It's simple enough." Wes added.

Nico felt his heart jump into his throat because, well, not being judged...that was a pretty foreign concept. Sure, Percy, Annabeth and Thalia were totally cool with his parentage - Percy and Thalia couldn't talk - but that didn't mean everyone was. He'd been judged a lot because his father was Hades. He was relieved that his sexuality hadn't been found out because he had no clue how the rest of the camp would react to that. He felt Kurt lean into him slightly and Nico could tell Kurt was on the verge of tears, something in the sentence had struck a chord and Nico was worried for him. Kurt, as far as he knew, had never cried.

"Can you guys leave us alone for a minute?" Blaine asked his friends, though his eyes remained focussed on Kurt. David and Wes exchanged looks, before nodding and standing in unison, wishing Kurt luck, before leaving. Nico made to leave, but Kurt caught his arm, pulling him down again.

"Stay." He whispered, and Nico was surprised to hear his voice actually crack. "Please?"

"Yeah." Nico swallowed. "Yeah, ok."

"I take it you're having trouble at school?" Blaine prompted gently, and everything seemed to spill out of Kurt. Never once did a tear fall, though his voice trembled as he spoke. Nico placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it gently in reassurance. Kurt was panting gently when he'd finished. Blaine only nodded slightly.

"I get it. I was bullied at my old school." He said, his eyes calculating as he looked at the both of them. "I was completely alone, and when I tried to tell someone...well, they didn't care. They were sympathetic and all, but it was like 'Hey, you're gay - your life's gonna be miserable'. I had no one. At least you have each other."

"Oh, no!" Nico nearly choked on his coffee and Kurt flushed. "We're not...together."

"Oh gods, no. We're just...friends." Nico said quickly. He noticed that Blaine's eyes were glittering with amusement.

"Sorry for the confusion." He said, but Nico knew he'd done it to dissipate the tension. Thank Zeus. "But I ran, Kurt. I ran and it was a cowards choice. I've regretted it every day. Don't do something you'll regret. Don't...run."

Kurt looked down at his latte and Nico and Blaine had a silent conversation. Nico nodded slightly and, in that moment, he realised that he and Kurt had more allies than he had originally thought.

XoooX

"The boys beat us last time." Quinn was explaining why everyone in the group was so focussed and determined in a way that was mildly terrifying to Thalia. "So we're determined to win this time. Although, well, they technically didn't - we got busted for Vitamin D possession before the vote."

"You what?" Thalia raised an eyebrow, stopping sewing on sequins to stare at Quinn. She heard Santana snort, but ignored it determinedly. "What have I gotten myself into here?"

"We don't normally do stuff like that." Mercedes assured her, although she was obviously amused. "It was a one time thing."

"I hope so, because I am not doing anything like that." Thalia stated. "Because Annabeth will destroy me."

"Annabeth?" Quinn asked.

"Basically my sister." Thalia explained, realising that no one here, aside from Mercedes, had actually met Annabeth. It was a strange experience. "We've known eachother for, like, forever. So we're living with her boyfriend and his parents. And Nico, of course." Quinn hummed in realisation.

"Spies!" Thalia started at Rachel's exclamation, nearly falling out of her seat in shock. She managed to regain her balance, eyes towards the door. She raised an eyebrow at the presence of Artie and Puck.

"...You are actually joking, right?" Thalia turned her head to look at Rachel. She was vaguely aware of Tina hiding her giggles behind her palm. "Spies do not walk in through the front door." Rachel frowned at her in disapproval and Thalia turned away, rolling her eyes. Quinn smirked.

"We're here to talk to Santana and Brittany." Puck shoved his hands in his jacket pockets, grinning in a way that made Thalia sort of want to punch him.

There was some discussion that Thalia zoned out of. From what she gathered, though, it was mostly a discussion of 'I'm not interested in you' which ended in a date.

"Did anyone understand what just happened?" She asked in a whisper to Quinn, Mercedes and Tina. Mercedes and Tina shrugged.

"It's how Puck works." Quinn explained with a shrug, suddenly heavily focussed on sorting out her costume. "We had a...a thing."

"He got her pregnant." Mercedes hissed in explanation and Quinn stiffened.

"Oh." Thalia blinked, before looking at Quinn. "You castrated him, right?"

The sudden fit of giggles Quinn burst into and the laughter Tina and Mercedes let out confused everyone else in the room. It made Thalia feel so much better, though, especially Rachel demanding to know what was so funny. Thalia merely smiled and continued sewing sequins, Quinn muffling her giggles into Thalia's shoulder.

XoooX

To say Nico was surprised to have Kurt drag him into an empty classroom at lunch would be an understatement.

"You realise this is gonna look really suspicious, right?"

"Karofsky kissed me." The two said their separate lines at the same time, and just stared at each other. Nico was suddenly aware that Kurt was trembling.

"Ok, your problem is obviously more important right now." Nico said. "When? Why? Can I kill him?"

"At break. Because he's in the closet. And no." Kurt answered the questions in order. He drew in a deep breath. "I...I called Blaine. He's coming here. He's gonna confront him with me but...can you come too? Please?" He looked at his feet awkwardly. "It's just...you're the only one at this school who gets it…"

"Of course I'll be there, Kurt." Nico replied. "You're my friend, ok? You don't even need to ask." Kurt smiled a dazzling smile.

"Thank you."

So they met up with Blaine just outside of the school grounds at lunch. He was wearing his Dalton uniform. Blaine obviously noticed Nico's confused look.

"I skipped a Warblers rehearsal to get here." Nico couldn't help but let out an impressed whistle.

"Such a rebel." He teased. kurt gave him a look and Nico shrugged. The older boy sighed, before showing Blaine to the courtyard. It wasn't long before they cornered Karofsky.

"Hey, ladyboys. This your boyfriend, Kurt?" Nico bristled immediately, hands curling into fists. _Curb it,_ a voice in his head said. It sounded a lot like Annabeth. "You in a threesome?" Nico imagined Karofsky's painful death multiple times in his mind. It felt good.

"We would like to talk to you about something." Blaine said, crossing his arms, standing defiant. Nico spent a second admiring him, before remembering he was a midget who used to much hair gel.

"I gotta go to class." Karofsky actually sounded nervous, much to Nico's disbelief.

"Kurt told us what you did." Nico said, actually surprised that he'd said anything. Oh well, at least it wasn't the image of Karofsky burning in the Underworld.

"Oh, yeah? What's that?"

"You kissed me." Nico managed to not stare at that. Kurt said it so bluntly, and his voice didn't even quiver and Nico admired him for that.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Karofsky snapped back

"It seems like you might be a little confused. And that's totally normal. This is a very hard thing to come to terms with, and you should just know that you're not alone." Nico was seriously concerned for Blaine's sanity, not to mention his physical well-being when Karofsky shoved him against the chain link fence.

"Do not mess with me!"

"You have to stop this!" Kurt yelled, wrenching the jock away from Blaine before Nico could actually kill him. He stared at them, before turning and walking away. There was a few seconds of tense silence, until…

"Well, he's not coming out any time soon." _Brilliant, Blaine, just brilliant!_ Nico thought sarcastically. _Your assessing skills astound me!_ "What's going on? Why are you so upset?" _Really? Why are you so upset? For a private school boy, you really are stupid._

"Because until yesterday, I had never been kissed. Or at least, one that counted." Kurt said, sounding so utterly downtrodden and Nico sort of wanted to hug him because gods, having his first kiss with someone who was such an utter dick had to suck. As well as be emotionally traumatising.

"Come on. I'll buy you lunch." Blaine said, offering Kurt his hand once again, like he did at Dalton, and Kurt took it.

"I'll just…"

"Nah, you can come too." Blaine grinned. "You're not half bad."

"Gee, I feel loved." Nico rolled his eyes and Kurt managed to smile in amusement at the two as Nico elbowed Blaine. "You're paying for both of us, right Private School?"

Blaine laughed and Kurt snorted and Nico suddenly felt as though things were looking up.

Finally.


	3. Chapter 3

Nico hated the 'waiting' process in glee club. Since Kurt liked to get there early, they normally ended up waiting for ages until the others showed up. Thalia, on the other hand, had taken to hanging out with Quinn and Annabeth, who surprisingly got on well. Nico thought they wouldn't - the two girls were completely different, but he supposed they had the mutual friend that was a certain huntress of Artemis. Also, the realisation that Annabeth could sing had really pissed off Thalia, who had in retaliation dragged her over to glee club.

Nico felt as though his thing was being taken over by his friends. He was the one who found out about it, and Thalia was told to join, and now Annabeth was here. He was almost expecting Percy to magically develop musical skills and join, too, which he really didn't want to happen. Glee was his second family - he didn't need the others there, too.

Currently, Nico and Kurt were sharing a phone, texting Blaine and stealing the phone, resulting in a tickling match which Kurt ended up winning, and claimed the phone smugly as Nico wiped tears out of his eyes.

Thalia had taken her usual seat next to Quinn, though Annabeth was on her other side instead of Tina. The three were talking in hushed voices, every now and then glancing at him and Kurt and smiling their smug 'I know something you don't' smiles. Nico sort of wanted to punch them.

Mercedes had taken the other seat next to Kurt, looking at his phone as though it had personally offended her. Nico admitted that Kurt had spent more time on his phone than he normally did, but Blaine...well, he and Kurt were made for each other, and Nico wasn't going to deny Kurt his one shot at happiness.

When Mr Schue walked in, Nico could immediately tell that he wasn't well. Like, at all.

The teacher looked at Annabeth for a few minutes. "You're…"

"Annabeth Chase." From her tone of voice, Nico knew that she, too, was concerned about the teacher's wellbeing. "I'm joining, I guess. Because Thalia said I should."

"She can sing and she said she couldn't. She lied." Thalia muttered. Mr Schue just sighed.

"Ok, welcome Annabeth." He turned back to the board. "Ok, uh, time to start thinking about songs…" He sounded as though his nose was blocked, his throat sore and Nico winced because he knew that being sick sucked. Mr Schue turned around, and his jaw went slack and his eyes grew wide. Nico figured that he should go to the nurse because he looked awful.

"Uh, sir?" Nico spoke up, one eyebrow raised. "Are you ok?"

"You do look a little green." Mercedes agreed, leaning forward slightly as though to inspect the shade of their teacher's skin.

"I think you should go to the nurse." Annabeth added. "You know, because we don't want to get sick, too."

"Agreeing with Chase." Puck leaned back in his seat. Mr Schue rubbed his temples, before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I think...that would be best." He managed to get out. "Although, I feel like I should get you guys a sitter."

Nico and Kurt exchanged looks and Nico snorted loudly. He regretted it when Annabeth gave him the look.

He hated the look.

XoooX

"I think that Rachel is being over dramatic." Nico said when Kurt placed his tray on the table with a bang. He sat down, shoving at it with a fork. "Please tell me I'm not going insane. She actually did announce that she was going to do songs that were primarily for her, right?"

"She did." Kurt sighed. "I knew it was only a matter of time before she tried that."

"It's terrifying." Nico agreed. "But, hey, bowling with Mercedes tonight. That'll be better than the horror of Rachel - right?"

"Oh, I forgot about that." Kurt looked sheepish, pushing his food around his plate. "I...I told Blaine I'd hang out with him." Nico pursed his lips.

"We were looking forward to it." He said. "Wait - you two aren't going out, right?"

"No!" Kurt said defensively, before pouting when Nico burst out laughing. "Oh, shut up!"

"You two were totally having non-platonic eye sex, though!" Nico retorted, still laughing. "It was like reading teenage fiction!"

"Shut up!"

"Twilight style!" Nico cackled, and Kurt made an attempt to stab him with his fork, before registering what Nico said and freezing.

"You've read or watched Twilight?" Nico blanched and Kurt grinned, looking positively evil. "I don't believe it!"

"People said it was good." Nico muttered, his normally pale face growing red. "When it got to the sparkling part I quit. I tore it up!" Kurt wouldn't stop laughing. Nico groaned. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Never!" Kurt announced. Nico sighed, finally unwrapping his lunch and taking a bite of his sandwich - peanut butter and jelly today.

"I'm just saying, you two are so obviously in love with each other, that you should just get the whole song and dance out of the way and get together." Nico took a bite of his sandwich and somehow managed to achieve a smug smile while chewing as Kurt spluttered. He swallowed. "It will save you so much pain in the future."

"How would you know?" Kurt raised an eyebrow. "You've been single forever, as far as I know. Hi Mercedes!" Kurt was saved from Nico hurling a grape at him by the arrival of Mercedes, who slammed her tray down on the table and glared at it as though it had personally offended her.

"Uh...are you ok?" Nico tilted his head.

"I'm going to kill Rachel." Mercedes muttered and Nico blinked.

"Everyone shares the sentiment." Thalia had joined them, for once leaving Quinn with the Cheerios. "She's the most annoying person on the planet."

"'Hi Nico, how are you?' Oh, I'm fine Thalia - why have you graced me with your presence instead of hanging off Miss Fabray? You know, as usual." Thalia elbowed Nico in the side. Hard. "Honest question! Stop the violence!"

"I am going to kill you and no one will ever find the body." Thalia replied, and Nico noticed her freckled cheeks were tinted pink. "And she's discussing cheerleading stuff. Which I don't get."

"You have a crush." Mercedes seemed happy to change the subject off of Rachel, and Kurt was just glad he wasn't the topic of discussion anymore. "You are both ridiculously touchy feely." Thalia scowled, her face more prominently red.

"I do not!"

"Your voice increased in pitch." Kurt leaned in closer. "You're lying."

"I have a pen. I will use it. In, you know, a stabbing sort of way." Thalia hissed. "Besides, she's straight. If I did have a crush - which I don't - it wouldn't work."

"Bisexuality is a thing!" Nico sang, before returning to his lunch, easily ignoring Thalia's glare of doom.

XoooX

Nico pounced on Kurt outside of the Spanish classroom before glee club. Kurt somehow managed to retain his balance. Nico only then noticed the teacher, watching them with a raised eyebrow.

"And you are…?"

"Oh, hi, I'm Nico di Angelo. Don't worry, I normally attack Kurt."

"It's a complex thing." Kurt managed to break free of Nico's hold on him. "As in, he's tiny."

"I am not!"

"You're nearly the same size as Rachel." Nico scowled and the teacher laughed.

"I don't think I've taught you - Miss Holliday."

"You're substituting for Mr Schue?" Nico guessed and she nodded. "That explains why - I already speak fluent Italian, so I got out of Spanish. Like how Kurt can speak French like he was born with the genes to speak it."

"I just practised." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Miss Holliday is gonna do glee club while Mr Schue's off."

"Brilliant!" Nico perked off. "No more Rachel dominating! Come on!" Nico was off, dragging Kurt along after him. He was pretty sure Miss Holliday was following, probably wondering what was wrong with him.

He was used to people thinking like that, anyway.

Thalia was waiting outside the club room when they arrived, fixing her eyeliner in a handheld mirror. "Puck's buttered the floor." She warned. Judging from the annoyed sounding whine from inside the room, Puck had done exactly what Thalia had said. She beamed, before strolling in, managing to not slip. Miss Holliday followed, gliding across the floor elegantly.

Nico and Kurt ended up clinging to each other in an attempt to remain upright, laughing as they did.

Miss Holliday was talking as Nico and Kurt made their way to their seats, Annabeth flashing them a smile. Nico returned it, albeit slightly awkwardly.

"Now, I've seen your regionals one where you came in last and it may have been because the songs were, like, thirty years old -"

"Those songs are classics!" Finn retorted.

"Those songs are great, I'm just saying, they didn't seem like your favourite songs."

"What songs?" Annabeth asked, raising her hand like she was in a lesson. "Also, we have video footage of you performing?"

"Journey songs." Quinn answered, Thalia physically lowering Annabeth's hand with her own. Nico had a vivid image of Kurt with long hair and singing Don't Stop Believing and it took all of his restraint to not burst into hysterical laughter. "And I did not know we had video footage."

"Look, I'm not your average substitute teacher. I want you guys to have fun while I'm teaching. Do what you want to do." Nico took this as a sign that Miss Holliday was not a monster, which was a good thing. Also slightly worrying, because of the lack of monsters. He wondered if the lack of them might have something to do with the energy source and concluded that it probably was. "Have class outside, but it's raining...take a field trip to taco bell. I don't know, just be able to enjoy yourselves." Everyone was looking hyped, except from Rachel.

"No, guys, we have a set list to work on." Rachel said and Miss Holliday nodded.

"Alright - what songs do you guys want to do?" And Thalia was rambling on about the amazingness that was Green Day, basically scaring and confusing the rest of the glee club who seemed rather taken aback by Miss Holliday's suggestion. The substitute let out a laugh. "Well, we have a lot of suggestions - but what about the rest of you? It doesn't appear as though you guys get asked that question a lot."

"Correct." Kurt sighed. "Mr Schue sometimes compiles set lists which make it seem as though he hasn't listened to the radio since the eighties."

"Dude, I pity you so much right now." Nico sighed. "You are so under educated in music!"

"It's like, he doesn't listen to what you want to do!" Puck complained. "Like Cee-Lo!"

"Oh my gods, Cee-Lo!" Thalia gushed, eyes bright. "I see you riding 'round town with the girl I love and I'm like forget you!"

"Ooh, ooh, ooh!" Annabeth and Quinn finished in unison, laughing as they did. Miss Holliday clapped.

"That's what I'm talking about!" She exclaimed. "So, why don't you guys put some songs together, and we'll see what ideas you have?" Nico and Kurt exchanged a look.

"Let me guess - something from a musical?" Nico raised an eyebrow and Kurt rolled his eyes, but he did look slightly sheepish.

"Am I that predictable?"

"In your music taste? Sometimes, Kurt. Sometimes."

XoooX

Thalia and Nico had skipped glee club today, joined by Quinn, Kurt and a hesitant Annabeth.

"Won't we get in trouble?" She asked as Thalia bought everyone coffee from a vendor in the mall.

"Nah. People ditch all the time." Quinn took the vanilla latte Thalia gave her with a beautiful smile and Nico swore that Thalia would've swooned if she were a weaker girl.

"A cappuccino for Annie, Nico's disgustingly sweet caramel latte, a grande non-fat mocha for Kurt and normal black coffee for me." Thalia stated as she handed out the coffee.

"Black coffee is not normal." Nico protested. "Black coffee is what demons drink. Demons!"

"Well then, maybe I'm a demon." Thalia flashed Nico a wink and Quinn laughed. "Come, let us enjoy our break from glee while we can because we know Rachel will kill us when we return."

"So true." Quinn sighed. "I'm actually amazed Annabeth condoned this."

"I'm right here." Annabeth pointed out. "And Rachel annoys me and I think the entire lesson was literally going to be just her performing a number from Chicago. As much as I love that musical, I can do without her hogging the spotlight."

"Preach!" Kurt and Annabeth knocked their cardboard coffee cups together to signify their agreement. That was when Nico heard a very familiar voice.

"Is that Nico and Kurt?" Wes. That was definitely Wes. Nico turned and waved when he caught the sight of the familiar face, along with twins. The twins who had shown him the way to the commons.

"Who are you waving at?" Thalia had turned, along with the rest of the group. Kurt seemed to recognise them, too, and was waving just as enthusiastically.

"Prep school boys." Nico replied, lowering his hand as the boys came closer. There was a face he did recognise, but couldn't put a name to it - a boy with strawberry blond, curly hair - and one he didn't recognise, one with dark hair and dark eyes, reminding Nico a bit of how he must have looked like after his longer stints in the Underworld. "Hey, guys."

"Hey di Angelo." David winked. "Thought we wouldn't see you guys again until Sectionals."

"You thought wrong, then." Nico replied. "This is Thalia, Annabeth and Quinn - they're in glee with us."

"Should I be concerned you know our rivals?" Quinn asked, eyes sparkling with humour. Wes laughed.

"Don't worry - they didn't give away any secrets." David added. "Oh, you don't know Reed and Dwight."

"I'm Reed." The smaller boy said, smiling. "Reed Van Kamp." Kurt's eyes went wide. Like, ridiculously wide, and Quinn blinked in shock.

"As in, Hilde Van Kamp?" Quinn inquired and Reed nodded.

"She's my mum."

"Is everyone at Dalton rich?" Nico asked. "Seriously, you go to this huge private school and actually have uniforms."

"There is boarding there, too, Dinah." One of the twins - Ethan, Nico guessed wildly - said. Then he caught the nickname and let out an indignant squawk.

"I am not a cat!" Kurt snorted in amusement at that.

"Well, Alice was taken." The other twin shrugged. "Because you didn't follow the White Rabbit into Warblerland." Kurt, who was laughing, froze when he realised the implications of that statement.

"...I'm _Alice_?" The twins nodded and their friends looked slightly helpless.

"It's their thing." Reed explained, sounding apologetic. "They name anyone they find...well, interesting."

"I'm interesting?"

"Well, you did try to spy on us." David shrugged, but answered Nico's question, which he supposed was fair enough. "Anyway, shouldn't you be in school?"

"We ditched." Thalia shrugged, absently leaning against Quinn. "Shouldn't you be in?"

"I like her." Evan decided. "Nope, we've got a free period."

"Speaking of which, we should be heading back." The other boy, Dwight, spoke for the first time. Nico was highly aware that his eyes had never left him, but not in a 'he's pretty hot' kind of way - more in a frightened animal sort of way, like he expected Nico to...hurt him. It made him feel unnerved - he'd gotten similar looks from some people at camp, but Dwight...he'd never met him before. So why the look?

"Dwight is right." Reed nodded. "We should be heading back - it was nice meeting you guys, anyway."

"Same." Nico managed a smile. "See you soon."

The groups split, and Nico could still feel Dwight's gaze burning into him, as though he was still looking at him, eyes full of fear and worry.

XoooX

Nico had to admit that he was surprised to see Annabeth sitting in front of the glee club when he walked in late. He hurriedly took his seat next to Kurt. "What did I miss?"

"Not much - Annabeth's going to sing, at Rachel's insistence. Miss Holliday agreed."

"Oh." Nico blinked. His gaze shifted towards the daughter of Athena, who looked calm and collected.

"If you don't mind, Tina and I worked on something together." Annabeth smiled beatifically, and Tina nodded. "If we could perform that, would that be ok?"

"Yes, that's fine." Miss Holliday beamed. "Come on up, Tina." Tina did, pulling up a chair and taking a seat next to Annabeth. The blonde smiled at the pianist, who began to play.

 _Those hardest to love need it most_

 _..._

 _Do we take that risk?_

Annabeth's voice was quiet, sweet. It rivalled her personality, which was loud and almost intimidating in a way. Nico found himself recognising the song - Fools. Annabeth had been singing it to herself around the house, but it had never sounded as nice as this. Tina took up the next verse.

 _And so it all boils down to this_

 _..._

 _That's human nature at its best._

Tina's voice, too, was pretty. Nico wondered why she didn't sing solos as much as the others, though it was probably because her voice was so sweet. The others in the group were much louder than Tina, and Nico figured that wasn't fair. Just because Tina was quiet, didn't mean she should stay quiet. The two sung the chorus together.

 _What if we ruin it all, and we love like fools?_

 _..._

 _So tell me what we choose_

Their voices together melded perfectly, not one outshining the other. They sung the last line together once more, before the group applauded, Rachel looking accepting of the fact that Annabeth was in their group. Nico was still a bit annoyed that his friends were joining glee club, but they hadn't stolen away his friends, so he could accept it, he guessed.

"That is what I'm talking about!" Miss Holliday grinned. "I think you've all explored music that suits you more than your teacher, which is what I wanted you to do. So, you can head home and do whatever - homework, tv, sleep!" Kurt and Nico exchanged looks.

"Want to marathon some tv show?" Nico asked. Kurt beamed.

"I thought you'd never ask."

XoooX

When Mr Schue returned, Nico found himself missing Miss Holliday.

It wasn't that he didn't like Mr Schue - it was more the fact that he missed being able to choose the songs he sang. Listening to those few who wanted to show their tastes in music. He would never be able to get over listening to Kurt sing songs from musicals before anyone else was in the choir room out of his head.

So when Mr Schue announced that they would be performing songs from 'Singing in the Rain', most of the glee club members were disappointed. Nico was, too - he wanted to perform more modern songs, more songs of their own choice. Quinn and Thalia exchanged a look, before Thalia raised a hand. Mr Schue took notice.

"Thalia?"

"Me and Quinn put something together. We didn't get to perform it - would you mind?" Thalia inclined her head and Mr Schue shrugged, moving to take a seat.

"The floor is yours, girls." Thalia and Quinn stood up, taking their places, and Nico was aware of how different they were - Quinn light where Thalia was dark, Thalia more tomboyish than Quinn was, but then again Quinn was in her Cheerios outfit.

"Alright, this is a mashup of two pretty cool songs." Quinn said.

"They're both a bit...well, different. You'll see...or, well, hear." Thalia added.

The music started and Nico couldn't recognise the song off the top of his head, which annoyed him a bit. Thalia started singing.

 _Well you dawned me and you bet I felt it_

 _..._

 _I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some_

Nico found himself mouthing the lyrics along with Thalia, but it wasn't much of a mashup. Quinn and Thalia sung the chorus together.

 _So I won't hesitate no more, no more_

 _..._

 _This is our fate, I'm yours_

Then Quinn started singing in her beautiful, lullaby like voice. It suited the lyrics of Somewhere Over the Rainbow perfectly, and Nico understood why they chose Quinn to sing that part.

 _Someday I'll wish upon a star_

 _..._

 _Once in a lullaby_

The next chorus was a combination of lyrics. Thalia sung the I'm Yours part, and Quinn layered Somewhere Over the Rainbow on top of her lyrics and, somehow, it worked beautifully.

 _So I won't hesitate no more, no more_

 _(Somewhere over the rainbow)_

 _It cannot wait I'm sure_

 _(Skies are blue)_

 _There's no need to complicate_

 _(And the dreams)_

 _Our time is short_

 _(That you dare to dream)_

 _This is our fate, I'm yours_

 _(Really do come true)_

And once more, their voices merged to sing the last verse together.

 _Please don't please don't please don't_

 _..._

 _This is our fate, I'm yours_

They finished, smiling at eachother and Nico could almost imagine they were in love until the moment was broken by the applause from the group, Mr Schue grinned and ushered them back to their seats, but a thoughtful look was now on his face.

Mr Schue had a plan.

Nico hoped it was a good one.

XoooX

"If I never see water again, I will be happy." Nico said as they left the auditorium, after changing from the clothes they'd performed in into their actual clothes. His hair was still dripping, though, and Kurt was attempting to fix his hair in a mirror he'd borrowed from Quinn.

"I wish you luck with that." Annabeth laughed. Thalia rolled her eyes.

Nico, Kurt, Annabeth, Thalia and Quinn were the last to leave the auditorium, planning on marathoning Lord of the Rings back at their house. Thank the gods it was a Friday, or they'd be exhausted the next day.

"I have never been more relieved to get out of my Cheerios uniform than I am right now." Quinn added, fixing her hair. She was wearing a simple, floral print dress with brown flats. Her hair was in loose curls and she looked stunning.

"Tell me about it." Thalia rolled her eyes. "Uniforms suck."

"When did you wear a uniform?" Nico raised an eyebrow.

"I am part of a club, Nico." Thalia pointed out.

"You can't really call them a club."

"It's the only way to describe them."

"What club did you join?" Quinn asked, now curious.

"Archery." Thalia shrugged. "Although it's more like a...a camp, I guess."

"Oh. Ok." Quinn blinked. Nico noticed it was quite dark out, his element. Though the hairs on the back of his neck rose up, and he fiddled with his skull ring. Anxiety thrummed through him - something was wrong. He could tell Annabeth felt the same, and Thalia's hand kept twitching.

That was when the growling started.

"What was that?" Kurt started slightly, instinctively moving closer to the rest of the group. Quinn had grabbed the crook of Thalia's elbow, as if that would be safer.

"A dog?" Annabeth suggested hopefully and Nico just knew it wouldn't be an ordinary dog.

Quinn's scream when the Hellhound, the size of a small car, appeared from the shadows, red eyes glinting like rubies in firelight pierced the silent air - no one else was there, they were alone. Also, Quinn could see it. Judging from the way Kurt scrambled backwards, he could too.

"We just can't get a break?" Thalia muttered.

"Thalia, when do we ever get a break?" Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"You know what that thing is?" Kurt's voice was even more high pitched than usual and, yeah, his shock and terror probably wasn't aided when Nico's sword manifested in his hand, the black blade glinting under the street lights. Quinn let out a sort of choking noise.

"That is a Hellhound." Nico replied, watching as Thalia's bow an arrows appeared in her hand, and Annabeth had pulled her knife out of where it had been previously concealed.

"Guard dogs of the underworld. Formed from shadows. We've got this." Thalia hummed, notching an arrow into her bow.

"This is insane." Quinn murmured, moving closer to Kurt. Nico couldn't blame her - what she thought was myth, legend, had been shattered into a million pieces. "We're going to die."

That was when Nico charged forward. He knew he was less at risk - the hellhounds came from his father's domain, so it was a bit of a surprise that it had decided to attack them. Although, the fact that Thalia and Annabeth were also here, and the killing of them may have outweighed the risk of getting sliced up by a very pissed off son of Hades.

Idiot.

He was pissed off that the Hellhound had managed to claw his arm, but Nico reminded himself that Werewolves hurt more. Like, much more. It was Thalia who finished it off, though, with a perfectly shot arrow right to the eye. The hound let out a yelp, before it dissipated into the shadows.

Then Nico registered the pain and ow, that stung. He also registered the fact that Kurt had moved so he was next to him, eyes wide with fear and...worry?

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Kurt replied, eyeing the cut. "You're the one who got hurt."

"We need to get home." Annabeth said, voice urgent and eyes worried. "There'll be more."

"Home. Well, yours." Quinn said, no indecision in her voice. She was eyeing the three of them, one eyebrow raised. "You have some explaining to do."

XoOoX

Merry Christmas y'all!

Ok, so I am hoping to update The Lucky Seventh and possibly Nightlife tonight primarily because both chapters are nearly finished but it may not happen. So I figured I'd post this now and wish you all happy holidays in case those two don't get updated.

Anyways, thanks for reading! - Jazz xx


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